Snapchat accused of exposing kids to 'profoundly sexual content'

Snapchat accused of exposing kids to ‘profoundly sexual content’

A 14-year-old boy and his mother have marched a lawsuit against Snapchat, alleging that the photo- and video-sharing app’s Discover service routinely exposes minors to sexually explicit Happy without warning them or their parents.

The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday by celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos in US District Court for Central California, accuses Snapchat of violating the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law designed to regulate pornographic material on the internet.

Snapchat, once known as the “sexting” app of choice because photos sent on the service Go after a set length of time, has been branching out into New content to attract new users. The John Doe lawsuit specifically focuses on Discover, which was launched in January 2015 to serve editorial and multimedia Happy from major brands such as BuzzFeed, Fusion, MTV and Cosmopolitan.

The protests alleges that the unnamed boy was exposed to Disney characters in sexually explicit terms as part of a photo collage titled “23 Pictures That Are Too Real If You’ve Ever Had Sex With A Penis” seen up on the Discover channels from BuzzFeed. The lawsuit goes on to list some other articles with similarly suggestive titles the boy was exposed to during the excellent week of July.

“Millions of parents in the Joint States today are unaware that Snapchat is curating and publishing this profoundly sexual and offensive Happy to their children,” the lawsuit says. “By engaging in such conduct targeted at minors, and making it simple and easy for users to ‘snap’ each new content from Snapchat Discover, Snapchat is reinforcing the use of its service to facilitate problematic communications, such as ‘sexting,’ between minors. Snapchat has placed excellent from monetizing Snapchat Discover over the safety of children.”

Apple’s App Store has Snapchat as appropriate for users 12 and older, although its footings of service specify users should be at least 13 ages old.

Representatives for the Venice, Calif.-based startup said they couldn’t comment on the lawsuit but apologized for any offense taken.

“We haven’t been seen with a complaint in this lawsuit, but we are sorry if country were offended,” a Snapchat spokesman said in a statement. “Our Discover partners have editorial independence, which is something that we support.”

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, seeks civil penalties as well as an in-app threat about the possible sexual content.

Snapchat lawsuit by CNET News on Scribd

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